Tag: Apollo

WASHINGTON,DC (NAA PR) – The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) is pleased to announce that Major General Michael Collins has been selected as the recipient of the 2019 Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy for … “his lifelong dedication to aerospace and public service in the highest order, both as a pioneering astronaut and inspired director of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.”

Established by NAA in 1948 to honor the memory of Orville and Wilbur Wright, the trophy is awarded annually to a living American for “…significant public service of enduring value to aviation in the United States.” One of the most important, historic, and visible aerospace awards in the world, the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy reflects a timeline of the most innovative inventors, explorers, industrialists, and public servants in aeronautics and astronautics.

The International Space Station (ISS) Multilateral Coordination Board (MCB) met on August 6, 2019. Its members[1] acknowledged the recent 50th anniversary of the first human steps on
the lunar surface during the Apollo 11 mission, praised the ongoing
important work of the ISS, and discussed opportunities for the future of
human exploration on and around the Moon and forward to Mars.

Space radiation is a key factor for astronaut safety as they venture to the Moon. NASA is exploring a variety of techniques and technology to mitigate different types of radiation during space travel. (Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Joy Ng)

GREENBELT, Md. (NASA PR) — August 1972, as NASA scientist Ian Richardson remembers it, was hot. In Surrey, England, where he grew up, the fields were brown and dry, and people tried to stay indoors — out of the Sun, televisions on. But for several days that month, his TV picture kept breaking up. “Do not adjust your set,” he recalls the BBC announcing. “Heat isn’t causing the interference. It’s sunspots.”

The following is a series of questions and answers prepared by Michael Collins, command module pilot for Apollo 11.

These are questions I am most frequently asked plus a few others I have added. For more information, please consult my book, the 50th anniversary edition of CARRYING THE FIRE, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut’s Journeys. All of the following sections in quotation marks are from that reference.

Q. Circling the lonely moon by yourself, the loneliest person in the universe, weren’t you lonely?

Vice President Mike Pence speaks at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center with an Orion spacecraft in the background. (Credit: NASA)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — Vice President Mike Pence visited and gave remarks in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the agency’s Apollo 11 Moon landing and announce to America the completion of NASA’s Orion crew capsule for the first Artemis lunar mission.

President Donald Trump signs an executive order reviving the National Space Council. (Credit: The White House)

On Space Exploration Day, we marvel at our country’s accomplishments
in space, commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing,
and pledge to launch a new era of discovery and exploration of our
universe.

For more than a half century, the United States has led humanity’s
quest into the great unknown. Few moments in our American story spark
more pride than the Apollo 11 mission, when Neil Armstrong, alongside
Buzz Aldrin, planted our beautiful flag into the Moon’s surface on July
20, 1969. Those first steps upon that “magnificent desolation”
represent a remarkable era in American innovation that has inspired
future generations to become scientists and engineers and has served as a
catalyst for the technological revolution of the 21st century. The
Apollo 11 lunar landing was a spectacular demonstration of American
technical prowess and space leadership, and it served as an enduring
example of what can be accomplished, in the face of incredible odds, by
American heart, courage, and grit.

To honor those who have come before us and for the future betterment
of all humankind, we pledge to launch a new era of exploration,
extending our pioneering spirit into the farthest reaches of the cosmos.
My Administration is committed to reestablishing our Nation’s
dominance and leadership in space for centuries to come. I have
instructed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to
send the next man and first woman to the Moon and to take the next giant
leap—sending Americans to Mars. Sustained exploration that extends
from our Earth to the Moon and on to the Martian surface will usher in a
new era of American ingenuity, drawing untold individuals into the
fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and defense.

On this Space Exploration Day, we celebrate our tremendous
technological advancements, honor those we have lost in the pursuit of
discovery, and embrace the American Spirit that has inspired our Nation
to lead the world in space.

Humans have not had much of an opportunity to work on the Moon. The 12 Apollo astronauts who got to explore its surface clocked in 80 hours in total of discovery time. From their brief encounters, and from extensive analyses of Apollo samples and lunar meteorites that were found on Earth, scientists have learned nearly as much as is possible to learn about the lunar environment without much contact with the surface.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — Individual images taken by the Apollo astronauts were pulled together by NASA imagery specialist Warren Harold at Johnson, and the accuracy of the unique perspective they represent was verified by Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, the only geologist to walk on the Moon.

“The Valley of Taurus-Littrow on the Moon presents a view that is
one of the more spectacular natural scenes in the Solar System,” Schmitt
said about the images stitched together from his Moon base Station 5 at
the Taurus-Littrow landing site.

“The massif walls of the valley are brilliantly illuminated by the
Sun, rise higher than those of the Grand Canyon, and soar to heights
over 4,800 feet on the north and 7,000 feet on the south,” Schmitt
added. “At the same time, the summits are set against a blacker than
black sky — a contrast beyond the experience of visitors from Earth.
And, over the South Massif wall of the valley, one can always see home,
the cloud-swirled blue Earth, only 250,000 miles away.”

The Apollo 17 panorama also has been converted into an immersive panorama viewable on the NASA Johnson account on Facebook.

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin steps down the ladder to the surface of the moon. (Credit: NASA)

by Douglas MessierManaging Editor

Fifty years ago today, three astronauts set off on the journey of a lifetime to make the first human landing on the moon. Twelve men would walk on the lunar surface, collect rocks and soil samples, and drive electric cars before the Apollo program ended in December 1972.

As the United States marks the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s historic first lunar landing on July 20, four of the 12 men who walked on the surface and eight others who flew around the moon are alive to celebrate it.

WASHINGTON (Smithsonian Institution PR) — Join us for a once-in-a-lifetime celebration of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, featuring a 363-foot Saturn V rocket projected on the east face of the Washington Monument and a special “Apollo 50: Go for the Moon” show. This presentation concieved and commissioned by the National Air and Space Museum, and is made possible through a partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior and 59 Productions.

On July 16, 17, and 18 the projection will be live from 9:30 pm to 11:30 pm.

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin steps down the ladder to the surface of the moon. (Credit: NASA)

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 Moon mission and look to the future of exploration on the Moon and Mars with a live, two-hour television broadcast Friday, July 19, and partner-led events taking place across the country from July 16 through July 20.

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin steps down the ladder to the surface of the moon. (Credit: NASA)

HOUSTON, June 21, 2019 (United Airlines PR) — Fifty years after Apollo 11 landed on the Moon in July 1969, United Airlines stands with the nation in celebration of this milestone anniversary. Beginning today and continuing throughout July, the airline, in coordination with Houston First Corporation, Space Center Houston, NASA Johnson Space Center and OTG will provide customers with a variety of opportunities to learn about and celebrate space exploration.(more…)

GREENBELT, Md. (NASA PR) — 5:32 p.m. Eastern Time on June 18, 2019, marks 10 years since the launch of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Its contributions to the fields of lunar science and exploration are unmatched: it has provided the largest volume of data ever collected by a planetary science mission.